Your garden is filled with bounty, and not just during the growing season. With a bit of creativity and some help from your local garden center, you can find many lovely gifts and holiday accents in your garden and landscape, letting you share your love of gardening with friends, family members, neighbors, teachers, and everyone you care about.
15 Fun Holiday Gifts From Your Garden
- Dried Flower Crafts
The beautiful flowers you enjoyed in spring and summer can easily be dried to become lovely holiday gifts. Pansies, yarrow, astilbe, lavender, salvia, and rose buds all dry especially well, and can be part of pressed bookmarks or magnets, scented potpourri sachets, or sprigs and sprays to embellish gift packages. - Dried Herbs
Fragrant and delicious, dried herbs can be a lovely and practical gift. Layer herbs in small clear glass jars, test tubes, or ornamental tins, and attach rustic recipe cards or a garden-fresh cookbook for an even more thoughtful gift. Thyme, dill, lemon balm, oregano, and rosemary are all superb choices that work well in savory winter recipes. - Ornament Sprigs
Create natural, beautiful ornament sprigs when you bind pine, arborvitae, holly, or evergreen twigs and colorful berries with jute twine or a festive ribbon to create a decorative bunch. Use sharp pruners to create clean edges with each cut, and use floral wire to shape the branches and twigs into elegant shapes. - Garden Tool Bouquet
The perfect gift for a gardener, you can create a tool bouquet using a clay pot as a vase and lining it with a pair of garden gloves. Arrange several hand tools for the “flowers” in the bouquet, and add packets of seeds, plant stakes, twine, or other small items as fillers in the arrangement for a useful and thoughtful gift. - Fire Starter Pine Cones
If you have large pine cones in your yard, they can become beautiful fire starters. Bake cones briefly in a warm oven to dry them out and ensure they are fully open, and allow them to cool. Wrap wicking around the cone, leaving a loop at the top for easy handling, then dip the cone in colorful wax 3-4 times for an even coat. Add a clever tag and you’ve made a perfect winter gift. - Fire Starter Jars
If you don’t have large pine cones, you can still create kindling jars as fire starter gifts. Use a small mason jar and fill it with mini pine cones, shredded dry leaves, and cedar shavings. Add a drop or two of candle fragrance and decorate the jar with ribbon or twine and tie on a long-lasting match to complete the gift. - Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Another pine cone gift is an easy bird feeder. Use large or medium-sized cones and spread softened suet or peanut butter over the cone. Roll the cone in birdseed and consider using sunflower seeds or even dried cranberries to create a fun pattern. Tie twine or ribbon around the top as a hanger, and you have a healthy feeder for winter birds. - Hose Door Mat
A garden hose can become a practical, easy-care mat for the deck, patio, or garage. Wind the hose into an oval or circle for a full-size mat, gluing it together to keep the appropriate shape. For a smaller mat, cut the full-size shape in half. The mats are easy to clean and safe for all weathers, making them ideal for outdoor use all year, and are even great for storing boots and galoshes inside to protect interior flooring. - Jar Lid Garden Stakes
Turn canning jar lids into whimsical garden stakes. Use markers, paint, or pens or create labels for each lid with the names of different flowers, herbs, and veggies, and attach each lid to a twig or stake for a rustic but useful gift. - Fairy Garden
A broken clay pot makes an excellent base for a charming fairy garden gift. Fill the pot with sand and dirt, and decorate it with moss, small plants, and all types of fairy accessories, such as mini toadstools, a whimsical door or miniature house, a fairy mailbox, and other fun accents. You can even present the garden as a kit and let the recipient arrange the items however they wish. - River Rock Markers
Buy large, smooth river rocks to turn into garden markers. You can paint each rock just with the name of a flower, herb, or vegetable, or embellish the rocks with swirls, dots, stripes, and other colorful accents. If you have a more artistic bent, consider painting the rocks to look like the foods and flowers they will be labeling! - Catnip Mice
Grow a stash of catnip in your garden and you can make homemade catnip mice for all your cat-loving friends. Use a burlap bag or flour sack and cut out mouse-like shapes to sew roughly together. Stuff them with safe fiberfill and a few dried catnip leaves and consider adding a bit of crinkly plastic inside to make the toy even more engaging. Adorn it with a button or yarn eye and tail and you’ve got a fun gift for every feline. - Herb Finishing Salt
Add dried herbs to coarse sea salt for a delicious finish for savory dishes. Try different blends of herbs for different flavorings, or consider bright, fresh options such as lemon or lime zest in the salt for a punch of flavor. You can use a jar, tin, or even homemade envelopes for the gift container, and include a tiny scoop for a handy way to spread the salt. - Mini Zen Garden
Create a miniature Zen garden to give a peaceful and thoughtful gift. Use a plant saucer as the base and fill it with fine sand or crushed perlite. Add a painted rock, miniature succulents, or a single fairy garden accent as a focal point, and include a miniature rake or wooden staff for making soothing patterns in the garden. - Wood Slice Coasters
If you’ve pruned a large branch or cut down a tree, you have the perfect material to make wood slice coasters for a rustic gift. Cut the coasters quite thin and dry them thoroughly for several weeks. Use different sandpaper grits to polish both sides to a smooth finish, leaving the bark intact, then varnish them well to seal the wood and give it a wet gloss. You could paint or use wood burning tools to add accents to the coasters before varnishing if desired.
Your garden can be a source of many beautiful gifts, with a little help from your local garden center to bring your gift inspiration to thoughtful reality. Whether you want to give gifts to like-minded gardeners or just share your love of gardening with everyone on your gift list, you can always find the perfect gift right in your garden or landscape.
